One Wish: Fatima Al-Fihri and the World's Oldest University

Ages 4 to 8, Grades P to 3

The next book by the author of In My Mosque, M. O. Yuksel, this true-life picture book biography of Fatima al-Fihri, an extraordinary Muslim woman who founded the world’s oldest university, shows the importance of never giving up on your dreams and how we all have the power to change the world for the better. 

Fatima al-Fihri loved to learn. She wanted to know everything, like how birds flew, why the sky was blue, and how flowers grew. But more than anything, she wanted a school for all, where anyone could study and become whatever they wanted, like teachers, scientists, and doctors. As she grew older, Fatima carried her one wish inside her, through good times and bad. Fueled by her faith and her determination, she worked hard to make her one wish come true. For over a thousand years, Fatima’s one wish—her school—served students and scholars from around the globe, and it continues to do so today!

About the Author

M. O. Yuksel's debut picture book, In My Mosque, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, and was praised as "marvelous” and “a must” in School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly starred reviews. A graduate of Fordham University and Columbia University, M. O. Yuksel loves writing about diverse cultures and inspiring female role models. For more information about her books, please visit her online at www.moyuksel.com.Mariam Quraishi is an illustrator and designer living in San Francisco. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Mariam favors traditional media, namely watercolor and gouache, for her work. In her free time, she can be found painting the beautiful champa trees and motia flowers from her hometown of Karachi. Whether the chai stains you find in her work are intentional or accidental, she’ll never tell! To see her latest creations, please visit www.mariamquraishi.com.